Improvements in or relating to draw hooks of a dobby

ABSTRACT

A process and apparatus for reading-in of a perforated pattern card by means of reading needles for controlling the draw hooks of a dobby. An operating lever is flexibly coupled to the reading needles so as to effect the position of the draw hooks. The reading needles, when they fall into a hole of the pattern card, bring the operating lever within reach of a power drive which, without effecting the reading-in position of the needles, initiates an amplified power control of the draw hooks through the operating lever.

United States Patent Palau [151 3,680,601 [4 Aug. 1,1972

[ DRAW HOQKSQQF A litiliiii [72] Inventor: Joseph Palau, Duingt, Haute-Savoie,

France [73] Assignee: 'Staubli Ltd., l-lorgen-Zurich, Switzerland [22] Filed: June 24,1970

[21] Appl. No.: 49,307

[30] Foreign Application Priority Date June 25, 1969 Switzerland ..9706/69 [52] US. Cl. ..'..139/68, 139/71, 139/331 [51] Int. Cl. ..D03c 1/00, D03c 1/06, D030 15/00 [58] FieldofSearch ..139/71,74, 68, 331, 66A

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,554,238 1/1971 Hoenig; ..139/68 3,500,873 3/1970 Kleiner ..139/71 2,085,459 6/1937 Wiget ..l39 /3 3l 2,646,080 7/1953 Kronoff ..139/68 3,378,038 4/1968 Hadinec ..139/68 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,008,665 1 1/1965 Great Britain ..139/331 886,310 1/1962 Great Britain... ....139/74 2,005,367 12/1969 France ..139/68 614,839 l/196l Italy ..139/68 Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi Attorney-Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn ABSTRACT A process and apparatus for reading-in of a perforated pattern card by means of reading needles for controlling the draw hooks of a dobby. An operating lever is flexibly coupled to the reading needles so as to effect the position of the draw hooks. The reading needles, when they fall into a hole of the pattern card, bring the operating lever within reach of a power drive which, without effecting the reading-in position of the needles, initiates an amplified power control of the draw books through the operating lever.

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO DRAW HOOKS OF A DOBBY The invention relates to improvements in or relating to draw hooks of a dobby and has particular reference to a process for reading in of a perforated pattern card by means of reading needles and to the control, according to the pattern, of the draw hooks of the dobby, preferably of the Hattersley type, with an operating lever flexibly coupled to the reading needles thus affecting the position of the draw hooks, as also to a reading-in mechanism for carrying the process into effect.

The process in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the reading needles, when they fall in a hole of the pattern card, bring the operating lever within reach of a power drive which, without affecting the reading-in position of the reading needles, initiates amplified power control of the draw hooks through the operating lever.

The invention will now be more fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the construction of a double lift dobby;

FIGS. 2 to 4 are detail views of the operating lever with the pusher in three different working positions; and

FIG. 5 is a detail view of the pusher drive and the progressive mechanism for the reading needles.

FIG. 1 shows the motion mechanism of a double lift Hattersley system dobby with a baulk 8, two draw hooks 11 or 11' connected through a slide 6 and connecting 9 to the baulk 8, which after actuation by the to-and-fro moving knives 12 or 12' according to the pattern, are carried along the traverse in the guideways l3, 14 or 13', 14'. The draw hooks which must-be attached to the draw knives are controlled by the pins 15 or 15' as is explained in copending patent application Serial No. 49308 of even date.

The pattern card 1 having holes to match the pattern runs over the card cylinder and is read in by reading needles 25, 25. The operating lever is flexibly coupled to the rear end of the reading needles and consists of the connecting link 18, 18 and the double lever 17, 17 which is swivel mounted on the pivot 63, 63' and exerts pressure on the pin 15, 15. There are two snugs 64, 65 and 64', 65' on the connecting link 18, 18'. Shown at l9, 19 we have the to-and-fro pusher which works in conjunction with the snugs 64, 65 or 64, 65'. A tension spring 20, 20' exerts pressure on the reading needle 25, which draws the reading needle against the card cylinder 26.

In the case of the reading-in mechanism shown by FIG. 1, the lower needle 25 has not found a hole in the pattern card which means there is no call for the hook I] to be released from the notch 57 of the slotted guideway 13. The pusher l9 executes its to-and-fro motion without any action on the snugs 64, 65 as the connecting link 18 stays in its fully raised position and snug 65 is outside its path of movement. This situation also obtains for the position shown chain dotted by FIGS. 3

and 4.

If on the contrary a hole in the pattern card should present itself before the reading needle 25 then needle 25' under the operation of the spring 20' falls in said hole, after the pusher 19' has moved out of the position according to FIG. 2 to the position according to FIG. 3 of the upper needle 25 in FIG. 1, as also positions shown in full line in FIGS. 3 and 4. When the needle drops in a hole of the pattern card 1, the connecting link 18 with its snug arrives in front of the pusher 19' (FIG. 3). This gives rise on the subsequent movement of the pusher to a cross movement of the rear end of the needle to be positioned according to FIG. 4. This cross movement of the connecting link 18' brings about a swiveling movement of the double lever 17' about the pivot 63, whereby the pin 15' is shifted in the guideway 14'. The release of the hook 11' from the notch 57' as also the disengagement of the hook 11' from the draw knife 12' is effected. The precise procedure of the subsequent movement of the shed forming devicecan be gathered from the above mentioned copending application.

On the one hand, when the pusher 19' rocks back again the double lever 17' swivels under the action of the spring 16 so that the cross movement of the end of the needle 25 is raised. On the other hand, the pusher 19' on its return movement impinges on the snug 64' and lifts the reading needle 25' out of and from the pattern card 1. The position shown in FIG. 2 is reached.

The right side of FIG. 5 shows the drive mechanism for the pusher 19 and 19. Seated on the drive shaft 52 is the cam 28 provided with the groove 21. The roller 29 which is mounted to the arm 27 moves smoothly in the groove. At one end the arm 27 is mounted on the pivot pin 34 and the other end carries the pusher 19. During the rotation of the cam 28 the pusher 19 makes a reciprocating movement as per arrow A, which sliding motion also applies to the positional change of the pusher 19' between the FIGS. 2 and 4.

As the dobby illustrated works with two reading needles only per heald shaft correct sequence of picks is notwithstanding required however in the forward and backward running and this is often achieved by means of four reading needles an arrangement for the movement of the feeler ends of the reading needles in a direction longitudinal with the pattern card is provided. Step by step reading-in of the pattern card is thereby achieved. The reading needle is passed through the rake 24. The finger 32 with its roller 30 moves smoothly on the plate cam 28 and actuates a turning motion of the swiveling lever 22 which brings about the traversing movement B of the rake 24 over the lever 33. In order that the finger 32 is at all times adherent to the cam 28 the two symmetrically disposed swiveling levers 22 and 22 are interconnected through the tension spring 23.

With the reading-in mechanism as described, the reading needle 25 brings a working part 18 within the path of movement of a positively operated driving element 19, which element on its return movement at the same time takes in hand the lifting out of the reading needle, while reading-in of the pattern card ensues merely through the force of the spring 20. Therefore the needle is not moved at its servicing end for readingin of the pattern card during the time there is a heald shaft motion. Thus comes about accurate reading-in and powerful control. The reading-in mechanism is practically independent of the actual shed forming device and can be interpolated as a unit assembly between the guideways.

What we claim is:

1. In a reading-in mechanism for controlling the draw hooks of a dobby having at least one reading needle mounted for movement toward and away from a perforated pattern card for controlling the condition of control means which govern the period of time that movement of a draw hook is to be eflected by a draw knife, the combination comprising:

articulated lever means connected between the end of said reading needle remote from said pattern card and said control means for controlling said movement of said draw hook;

force applying means connected to said reading needle for urging said reading needle toward said perforated card-and into engagement with the perforations contained therein; and

pusher means adapted to engage said articulated Y lever means during a period of time that said reading needle is engaging a perforation in said pattern card,'said pusher means moving said articulated lever means to efiect a change of condition of said control means to permit a movement of said draw hook by said draw knife, said pusher means being free of engagement with said articulated lever means during an alternate period of time that said reading needle is out of engagement with said perforation to thereby effect a prevention of movement of said draw hook by said draw knife.

2. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said articulated lever means comprises a pivotable lever pivotable about an axis located intermediate the ends thereof and a link connecting one end of said pivotable lever to said reading needle remote from said pattern card.

3. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said link includes at least one snug member secured thereto; and wherein said pusher means is adapted to engage said snug member on said link when said reading needle is in engagement with a perforation in said pattern card.

4. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said link includes two spaced snug members.

5. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 2,.

reading needle to said one end of said pivotable lever and extends transversely to the pivot axis for said pivotable lever.

7. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 5, wherein said pusher means includes driving means for driving said pusher means in a to-and-fro movement 7 adjacent but initially spaced from said link when said reading needle is out of engagement with a perforation in said pattern card whereby a longitudinal movement of said reading needle into a perforation in said pattern card will efiect an engagement of said link with said pusher means to thereby cause a to-and-fro movement of said link and a pivoting of said lever about said pivot axis to change the condition of said control means.

8. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 6, wherein said pivotable lever and said link are pivotally co nectedt ,each other at enerall a ht an le.,

8. A rea ing-1n mechan ism ac ordi g to claim 1,

wherein said force applying means is a spring resiliently urging said reading needle toward said perforated card.

10. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said control means comprises a pin mounted for movement into and out of engagement with said hook member in response to a pivotal movement of said lever, said pin being in a first condition when said draw hook is prevented from moving and in a second condition when said draw hook is permitted to move.

* l l l 

1. In a reading-in mechanism for controlling the draw hooks of a dobby having at least one reading needle mounted for movement toward and away from a perforated pattern card for controlling the condition of control means which govern the period of time that movement of a draw hook is to be effected by a draw knife, the combination comprising: articulated lever means connected between the end of said reading needle remote from said pattern card and said control means for controlling said movement of said draw hook; force applying means connected to said reading needle for urging said reading needle toward said perforated card and into engagement with the perforations contained therein; and pusher means adapted to engage said articulated lever means during a period of time that said reading needle is engaging a perforation in said pattern card, said pusher means moving said articulated lever means to effect a change of condition of said control means to permit a movement of said draw hook by said draw knife, said pusher means being free of engagement with said articulated lever means during an alternate period of time that said reading needle is out of engagement with said perforation to thereby effect a prevention of movement of said draw hook by said draw knife.
 2. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said articulated lever means comprises a pivotable lever pivotable about an axis located intermediate the ends thereof and a link connecting one end of said pivotable lever to said reading needle remote from said pattern card.
 3. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said link includes at least one snug member secured thereto; and wherein said pusher means is adapted to engage said snug member on said link when said reading needle is in engagement with a perforation in said pattern card.
 4. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said link includes two spaced snug members.
 5. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the other end of said pivotable lever is connected to said control means.
 6. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said pivotable lever is pivotable about a stationary axis and extends away from the remote end of said reading needle so that said one end is generally laterally spaced from said remote end of said reading needle, said link connecting said remote end of said reading needle to said one end of said pivotable lever and extends transversely to the pivot axis for said pivotable lever.
 7. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 5, wherein said pusher means includes driving means for driving said pusher means in a to-and-fro movement adjacent but initially spaced from said link when said reading needle is out of engagement with a perforation in said pattern card whereby a longitudinal movement of said reading needle into a perforation in said pattern card will effect an engagement of said link with said pusher means to thereby cause a to-and-fro movement of said link and a pivoting of said lever about said pivot axis to change the condition of said control means.
 8. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 6, wherein said pivotable lever and said link are pivotally connected to each other at generally a right angle.
 9. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said force applying means is a spring resiliently urging said reading needle toward said perforated card.
 10. A reading-in mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said control means comprises a pin mounted for movement into and out of engagement with said hook member in response to a pivotal movement of said lever, said pin being in a first condition when said draw hook is prevented from moving and in a second condition when said draw hook is permitted to move. 